Natural Spray to Keep Animals Away From Vegetable Plants

Vegetable gardens of all sizes can attract unwanted visitors who make your plants their five-course meal. Deer, rodents, raccoons and rabbits are a few critters known to munch on vegetables. Their feeding can severely damage your plants and reduce your crop yield and production. However, a few natural sprays can be made using inexpensive and nontoxic household ingredients that keep the animals from your vegetable plants without toxic chemicals.

Homemade Deer Repellent

Beef bouillon cubes and eggs are a few ingredients found in some commercial repellents. To make the homemade repellent using these inexpensive items, place a water-filled bucket in an area where it won’t be disturbed, and add one dozen eggs -- without the shell -- and four beef bouillon cubes. After mixing the ingredients for several seconds, cover the bucket and allow the mixture to rot for several days. The rotten smell tells you when the concoction is ready. Before using, add 2 tablespoons of dish soap for every gallon of deer repellent; then transfer the liquid to a squirt bottle. Thoroughly coat the ground around the vegetables -- don’t spray the plants -- with the homemade deer repellent.

Castor Oil for Mole Repellent

Derived from the castor bean, castor oil is a colorless, tasteless and odorless oil that has a wide array of uses, including as a food additive and a laxative. It is also used to create a homemade mole repellent. Castor oil mole repellent consists of 8 tablespoons of castor oil, 1 tablespoon of liquid dish soap and 1 gallon of water mixed together thoroughly. Pour this mixture into the mole’s runs to drive the annoying rodents out of your yard. You can also spray this mixture on plants and soil around the area where moles are active.

Garlic Spray

Homemade garlic spray repels various animals, such as deer, rabbits and opossums, and damaging insects from vegetable plants. Minced garlic cloves soaked in mineral oil for at least 24 hours create the first ingredient for the concentrated garlic oil spray. A ratio of about 3 ounces of garlic to 1 ounce of mineral oil typically works well to deter pests. The second half of the spray consists of 1 teaspoon of fish emulsion, 1 tablespoon of castile soap and 16 ounces of lukewarm water. Fish emulsion is commonly used as an organic fertilizer and is made from mixing fish waste -- such as fish guts -- with water and allowing it to rot for several weeks. This smelly liquid is also available for purchase at garden centers. Strain the garlic from the oil, combine the oil with the fish emulsion solution, and store it in a dark, dry and cool location. Before using, dilute 2 to 3 tablespoons of the homemade garlic spray with 1 pint of lukewarm water, and liberally spray the vegetable plants. Some homemade garlic spray recipes eliminate the fish emulsion solution and merely use the garlic oil, or you can add a few tablespoons of pepper to help increase its potency.

Hot Pepper Spray

Jalapeno peppers can be ground in a food processor to create a homemade hot pepper spray. This taste deterrent keeps rabbits away from vegetable plants without chemical repellents. After the peppers have been run through the food processor for a few minutes, add 1 tablespoon of water at a time until you have created a liquid. The pepper pieces need to be removed; so strain the concoction with cheesecloth into a jar, and add a drop of nontoxic school glue and two to three drops of liquid dish soap. This mixture is a concentrated solution that can be stored out of sunlight until ready to use. Before spraying the plants, mix the concentrated liquid with water using a ratio of one part hot pepper liquid with 10 parts lukewarm water. Don’t use this mixture before harvesting vegetables; allow a few days to weeks between applying the spray to the plants and harvesting the crops.